The Convocation
by toothlessgolfer
Summary: One year has passed since Drago's defeat. Hiccup is having doubts about his ability to lead Berk, so he goes to Elder Gothi for some advice. Unfortunately, she does not speak to him. Fortunately, she knows a summoning ritual. Unfortunately, she has never tried this summoning ritual before. Fortunately, the summoning ritual works very well. Family-fantasy-humor one-shot.


_**Author's Note – My apologies. Someone challenged me a long time ago to write something more humorous. Then I recently got sick and... and started reading old books to pass the time... and this happened...**_

* * *

Convocation

* * *

Hiccup frowned while standing outside Elder Gothi's hut which was covered in dozing Terrible Terrors. His Chief's fur cape, his father's cape, fluttered in the chill wind. He had just gotten back from a late afternoon flight with Toothless, absolutely nothing strange about that except that those flights were becoming rarer than they probably should be. Chief duties got in the way of flights.

Something else that was strange was how many of the dragons were now deferential toward Toothless. Well, that was not truly strange, given that Toothless was their Alpha or King or something like that, but it was different. Even now while standing beside him, Toothless gazed up at the ever-present flock of dragons circling over Berk.

_To be fair, everyone else looks at me differently now. What a difference a year makes._

Just over one year had passed since his father's death, since Drago's attack on Berk, since Toothless became Alpha of all the dragons on Berk, and since his own ascension into Chiefhood. One year since he started being looked to as the leader and authority figure on Berk, even though he knew nothing more than he had before his father's death. The other members of the gang were very helpful in everything dragon-related. Astrid especially was a source of support and encouragement.

But there was a problem.

He simply didn't feel up to the job of being Chief yet. He had been so suddenly thrust into the role that some of his father's lessons hadn't sunk in or been learned at all. Being expected to answer every beck and call from every villager was so frustrating. He didn't like being Chief, and some of the villagers were even starting to give him... looks.

Nothing was anywhere near as bad as when he had been Hiccup the Useless to everyone. But it was clear that he didn't measure up to his father as Chief.

Literally or figuratively, for that matter.

Toothless crooned and nudged his back while purring.

"Yeah, you're right, bud. It's go time."

He took a deep breath and then entered Gothi's hut. She was, as always, hunched over and was stirring a massive cauldron bubbling over a fire.

"Elder," he respectfully greeted her.

She turned to him, smiled toothlessly, and did one of her curtsey-bows which was not much more than a dip of her head.

"Do you have a moment, Elder?"

She gave him a look that clearly said something like 'look at how old I am... I do not know if I have any moments to give you since I could die at any moment.' She rolled her eyes and pointed with a shaking hand to The Chair.

He nervously sat down in the rickety chair that was imbalanced with one leg being shorter than the others. She heavily sighed and dropped into her chair opposite his. She started staring at him. Her eyes were an impossible mix of tired and 'Hurry this up since I might fall asleep any second' while also being wise and powerful, as if she could see all his secrets and fears.

She stared.

He stared.

She grabbed her staff and started idly fingering it.

He gulped.

"Elder, I... uh... need your advice."

Her eyes commanded him to continue, so he did.

"I think I've realized that I... don't really know... how to be Chief."

He made to get up from the chair to start pacing and gesturing, but her staff swung overhead and gently hit his thigh, holding him in place. He was not moving.

"Okay, yeah, so I know that leading is... learned on the job... but I still think I'm missing something. It's like I don't know what I should be looking for. Sure, I have Toothless, Astrid, and everyone to help support me, but..."

He locked his hands together and stared at them. His old calluses earned in the forge had faded as he stopped working so much in the forge.

He sighed and slumped in the chair.

"I feel like I don't know where strength really comes from. I'm not like my father."

Gothi's head started to fall, as though she was falling asleep. She shoved her staff into his belly. So, she was not asleep but was rather just deep in thought. It was sometimes difficult to tell the two apart.

"Uh, Elder?"

She opened her eyes, stared some more at him, withdrew her staff, and then roughly got up from her chair. She hobbled over to her bookshelf and began inspecting the books while grumbling to herself. She beckoned him over with a weak wave and a pointing finger.

"Elder..."

She pointed up at a thin, red book and scroll bound in leather, so he retrieved them and, curious about the texts, started to open them.

She slapped him on the hand and took the book and scroll from him.

_Okay, not going to try that!_

He was surprised that she started for the door and went outside. Elder Gothi never went anywhere except her hut and the great hall.

"Elder, what's going on?"

She spun on him, swung her staff overhead, and gently bopped him on the head while smiling so innocently that he could not be frustrated at all. She continued walking after gesturing him to follow.

Toothless stepped up alongside him with a warble of wonder while a couple wild dragons flew away from him. The Fury joined him in staring at the Elder; he almost looked relieved that the wild dragons were gone.

"Yeah, I don't understand it either, bud. We should probably go after her though. It would be my luck if I lose the tribe's Elder..."

Toothless snorted and started walking with him.

He caught up to Gothi, not that doing so was hard, and decided to walk with her to wherever she was headed, which appeared to be into the woods. Not that being in the woods at night was a problem now, but this was just very strange of her. Well, stranger than usual.

They walked through the woods as evening drew nearer. He wanted to ask her where they were going, but he knew better than to question her. She had no problems with hitting her Chief, as was her absolute right as the Elder.

_Where are we going?_

A lone Nadder whom he didn't recognize, there were too many dragons to know all of them individually now, dove and hopped over to Toothless with a screech of greeting. The Nadder wildly bobbed its head, preened at him, and then dropped a fish at Toothless's paws. Toothless purred in clear thanks to the Nadder, ate the fish, and barked at the Nadder which then flew off.

Toothless then grumbled to himself in evident frustration and resumed walking at his side. So he held Toothless's neck and gave him a gentle scratching.

"Yeah, swarmed by adoring fans. I know how that feels..."

Toothless just grumbled.

They kept walking after Gothi. She had a strange energy that let her keep going even in her advanced, ancient age.

They walked out into a grassy clearing that was open except for a very old set of ruins. There may have been stone buildings here once, but there was nothing remaining except several spires, a single wall, a flat floor, and a stone table.

Gothi tossed the red book on the table, opened it, put a finger on the parchment, and started reading, no longer even acknowledging their presence.

Toothless eventually huffed and curled up on the stone floor after flaming the ground for warmth.

Meanwhile, Hiccup eagerly leaned forward to see what was in the book, but the staff came flying and bopped him on the head... again.

_Lesson learned... not trying that either..._

He started idly pacing, waiting for Gothi to finish reading whatever she was reading. How her reading from an old book could possibly help him figure out his place in the world or how to be a better Chief... he was not going to question. Merely thinking about it would surely result in his being hit on the head, again.

* * *

_Blasted confounding perturbations!_

This was beyond frustrating.

The Ex Machina tome and the Elder Scroll were ancient relics passed down through the generations and written in a script no one else knew how to read. The very act of reading such powerful relics had effects like rendering the reader blind or mute, the second of which had happened to her long ago.

That was fine.

Not being able to speak contributed to her mysterious presence and aura of wisdom. She knew the truth that as long as others consider her to be wise they will hear more wisdom in whatever she says. Maybe it was a chicken and egg problem, but she was no spring chicken and didn't care about such pointless rhetorical objections.

She leaned closer over the tome to read the relevant lines again. The Ex Machina tome could apparently summon that which was most needed in a given moment while the Elder Scroll had power to extend the summoning beyond only physical distance and time.

She didn't know what would happen if the two were used together, but it felt important to do something now. Berk needed its Chief to be confident in himself so that the voice of peace could stay the course, so that Hiccup could gain greater trust in himself, and so that the tribe would be led well by someone who understood how to make decisions.

Changing the world forever... maybe that too, if the changing helped Berk.

_Oh well, here goes nothing!_

She grabbed the tome and scroll and then hobbled over to Hiccup, now dozing against Toothless's side. It had clearly been a long day for the young Chief and probably for the Night Fury.

She lifted the tome and scroll and then mentally chanted the summoning charm. Speaking aloud was not needed. It was only the thought that counted.

Then, the silent charm spoken, she turned back for the village and left Hiccup and Toothless behind to experience whatever would happen next. As for herself, she just wanted to get back to her hut.

_Ugh, stupid joints..._

* * *

A very loud crack and rush of wind echoed in the clearing. Hiccup flew to his feet, instantly drawing Inferno in his alarm. Toothless similarly flew to his paws while growling. The sun was very high in the sky, almost as though...

_What just... did I just sleep until noon? Oh gods, I am so dead... I must have missed..._

Smoke was curling a far corner of the clearing, from every corner of the clearing. There was so much smoke that it looked like the forest was on fire, though there was no light from any flames.

_An invasion of Smokebreaths? We gotta find out what's happening..._

"Let's go, bud..."

Toothless warily stalked forward at his side as they approached the smoke. Then the wind picked up and began to blow away the smoke into the trees surrounding the large clearing.

They both froze, staring in numb shock when they saw what the smoke had been hiding. There, on the ground before them, was a sapphire blue dragon that was completely unfamiliar. It had a long neck, four limbs, and even looked like it had feathers on its wings. It was larger than the biggest Monstrous Nightmare, and this dragon also looked far more majestic.

_Oh my gods, what is that? That is not in the Dragon Manual!_

Toothless hopped up beside him and glanced at his own back with a soft growl.

"Good idea, bud..."

He hopped into the saddle, just in case they needed to act. Most dragons were peaceable enough, but there was no knowing with entirely new kinds like this one.

The blue dragon shifted with a groan as it got to its paws and stretched its azure wings. Then Hiccup gasped in amazement when he saw something very good.

The blue dragon was wearing a saddle, which meant that the dragon was clearly a friendly one and had a human rider. That was further confirmed when a young man appeared from the blue dragon's other side and was immediately nuzzled by the massive dragon. The strange human and dragon both looked around until they noticed him and Toothless.

They froze, staring in open amazement.

The strange human had brown hair and looked to be about his age while having a thin but strong build. There was a sword visible at the young man's hip. Visibly overjoyed, both the strange human and dragon immediately ran with strange cries of welcome and greeting for him and Toothless. Even stranger was that Toothless did not seem afraid at all of this blue dragon that was so much bigger than him.

The human stopped before them and held out a palm toward them while speaking in a foreign language. There was a very strange blue mark on the outstretched palm.

_Oh gods, what tribe does that?_

"I am Chief Haddock! Who are you and what are you doing on Berk?"

The young man quickly stopped speaking and then glanced at his dragon while it did the same to him. They both looked confused about something. And they kept staring at each other in silence.

That was strange.

_What are they doing?_

The young man rolled his eyes, said something else in a strange voice, and then snapped his fingers.

"How is that? Can you hear me now?" the stranger asked.

"Wait, what just happened?" he exclaimed in shock.

"Universal translation charm. It is very helpful."

"I'm sorry... I don't... what is going on!"

The stranger stepped back and leaned against his dragon's head as it rested, staring at Toothless.

"I was hoping you could tell me. We were just on a peaceful flight away from any duties when we appeared here in the smoke. Did you summon us here?" the man warily asked.

"Summon? I don't even know who you are! And what happened to your hand?"

The young man looked very surprised and confused by that as he held out his hand with the odd mark.

"Do you not have one? Do you not have a Gedwey Ignasia?"

"A what what?"

In further surprise, the strange man turned to his dragon and stared at it again.

"Excuse me, who are you and what are you doing on Berk?" Hiccup demanded.

"Berk? What is that?"

"That is here! This island! My home! I am Chief here!"

The stranger held his hand to his chest and bowed slightly.

"You have my apologies, but we must know this. Are you and your dragon not bonded?"

This was absolutely beyond confusing and frustrating, so he rested his hand on Inferno.

"What is going on? Who are you and why are you here?"

Toothless growled softly, but the much larger blue dragon only looked amused.

The man then bowed again.

"I understand better now. You are not. Not as we are. Allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Eragon Shadeslayer, and this is Saphira Brightscales."

Getting names was better than not. Still, these two were very strange foreigners who somehow snuck onto Berk, and he needed to know what was going on here. He had a ways to go before he got to the level of 'nothing happens on Berk without him knowing about it.'

_Time for some diplomacy..._

"A pleasure to welcome you to Berk. I am Chief Haddock, and this is Toothless."

"Toothless?" Eragon wondered.

Toothless growled softly while showing his teeth.

"Yes, that's his name. Now what are you doing here?"

Eragon frowned and started pacing while his dragon continued staring at them.

"As I said before, I do not know. Something powerful summoned us to this place... and time."

The blue dragon, Saphira, snorted and rumbled.

"Saphira says that we might not truly even be here... wherever here is."

"Huh? Saphira says?"

Eragon sighed at that and also looked sad about something.

"You truly cannot hear? You do not have the mark on your palm?"

He glanced at his own palms and confirmed that there was nothing abnormal there.

"No. What is it? Is that a slave-mark?"

Eragon looked shocked and possibly offended.

"No! It is the mark of a bonded dragonrider. You've never heard a dragon's voice before?" Eragon softly asked.

He had heard many crazy things before, usually from the Twins or from Gobber, but dragons definitely did not talk. That was just too crazy to accept.

"Good joke. I'm not falling for that one."

Eragon grinned and turned to his dragon.

"Saphira, would you please..."

Saphira snorted, got to her paws, and leaned forward while staring at him. Toothless did not even react as she nosed closer. There was something very powerful about her blue eyes that...

_'Well met, friend of my dark kin.'_

The words, spoken in a feminine tone despite how impossible that was for thought itself, echoed from inside his head, and he knew what had to be true even though it was impossible. The blue dragon, Saphira, had just spoken with thought or something like that...

He felt like fainting, but he barely avoided doing that. This was too impossible. Just a little impossible could still happen and did happen almost every day of his life, but not something this impossible!

Then there was another crash, as if of thunder in the clearing.

All four of them spun toward the sound, forgetting each other for the moment, and saw another cloud of smoke erupt on a far side of the clearing.

Without any prompting, Eragon and Saphira started running toward the smoke.

_What in Thor's name is going on?_

He hopped down from Toothless's back as they both stared. Eragon's words that he and his dragon could speak to each other, combined with his own hearing the voice in his head, made him wonder if...

Was it possible that...

He warily glanced at Toothless as the Fury similarly looked to him.

"Bud... can you... talk like that?"

Toothless hummed softly and stared at his paws. There was no strangely echoing sound in his head. But it certainly appeared that Toothless understood something about the situation. The Fury always seemed very aware.

Then Toothless looked ahead as a pair of roars echoed from the fading smoke.

He joined Toothless in staring awestruck and then running after Eragon and Saphira. The two strangers were now joined by another man and a smaller, pure white dragon. The white dragon was even smaller than Toothless, but not by much, and it was protectively sheltering what was apparently its rider.

_More of them? What the..._

The new strangers seemed to warm very quickly to Eragon and Saphira because both dragons' tails started swaying and the two humans bowed to each other. Eragon then waved him over, so he ran closer with Toothless staying close to him.

"Chief Haddock, you have new guests on... your island," Eragon chuckled.

"I see that. And just who are you?" Hiccup asked, trying to stay as respectful as possible while not getting overwhelmed.

The new man, fully grown but thin and strong, was wearing leather riding gear painted or tinted white to match the hide of his dragon. The dragon, just like Saphira, was also a breed that was definitely not in the Dragon Manual.

"I am Jaxom of Ruatha Hold," the man answered.

The small white dragon held his head highly and proudly.

_'And I am Ruth.'_

_Okay, more magic talking dragons... can this get any stranger?_

Another crack and cloud of smoke came from across the field.

"No, no, no, no! No more! What in Thor's name is going on?" he shouted while running toward what was hopefully not another...

A very large and pure black dragon appeared from within the smoke and then strode out into the open. The dragon was larger than Saphira, had deep blue eyes, and had frills almost like Toothless.

_Yep, that's a new one too! Great!_

The black dragon looked around the clearing, noticed everyone else visible inside the swirling mist, and then glanced to its own back where a man was seated in an elaborate saddle. The man was wearing very strange attire with a tribal crest of a red cross, and he also had a strange, fur hat.

"Laurence, are you well?" the black dragon asked.

"Yes, Temeraire, I am well. Do you know where we are?" the man asked.

The black dragon looked around and stared at the central mountain and then out to sea.

"I haven't the foggiest. Maybe the Outer Hebrides? Perhaps we should ask these dragons."

There was another crack from somewhere nearby.

And Hiccup fainted.

* * *

Hiccup came to, resting against Toothless's side. He rubbed his head while wondering what in Thor's name had happened to him.

_Ugh, fell asleep somewhere... strange; I didn't drink that much at the Hall..._

Toothless's nose nudged his side, so he opened his eyes and went to shove the nosy Fury away.

He saw everyone around him, and he remembered what had recently happened.

Not only were Eragon, Saphira, Jaxon, Ruth, and the last man and dragon he saw before fainting... around him now, but there were two more. There was also a medium size, brown dragon with a lot of spikes on its head and back and with orange-brown eyes, and there was a man with long hair, metal armor, and a long sword at his hip.

_I don't even..._

Toothless nosed him again, so he hopped to his feet.

"Okay, I'm up! What the..."

Eragon saw him and waved him over to where everyone else was gathered around a small fire.

"Chief Fish... Haddock, come join us!"

Jaxom and one of the new men laughed.

"Hold on just a minute, who are you? And you, dragon, do you talk also?" Hiccup warily asked.

The brown and spiky dragon huffed, snorted flame, and spoke in a deep voice.

"Am I a dragon? Yes, I talk! What kind of dragon cannot speak? My name is Draco. If you find the name strange, blame Bowen," the dragon rumbled in answer.

_'You should not be surprised, young one,_' Saphira mentally hummed.

Hiccup put his hands behind his head and took very deep breaths to steady himself.

The man who came with Draco and who had just laughed hopped to his feet and strode over to greet him.

"I hear that you are the Chief here in these lands? Is that true?"

"I am Chief of Berk, yes."

The man stuck out his hand, so he shook it.

"My pleasure. My name's Bowen. Knight and former dragon-slayer."

"Huh?"

Bowen frowned and sighed.

"I... changed careers. Still a knight of the Old Code though. Come on, we're waiting for you."

Bowen then strolled back to everyone else and sat down by one of Draco's forearms.

Toothless stepped up to his shoulder and softly warbled.

"What do you think, bud?"

Toothless hopped forward toward the other dragons and then sat down in the open space between Saphira and Ruth.

So he went and sat down at Toothless's chest since all the other humans seemed to be resting with their respective dragons.

"All right, we are all here. We should probably tell him what we think is happening," Eragon proposed.

_'Little one, there is something that you must do for them first,' _Saphira hummed.

_'I agree that they should not be left out of this,'_ Ruth added.

The large black dragon, whom he remembered was named Temeraire, chuckled, which was a very impressive thing coming from so massive a dragon.

"Thought-speaking is very strange, but it is necessary in his case," Temeraire said.

Hiccup threw up his hands.

"What are you all talking about?"

Eragon pulled out his sword and held it aloft. He whispered a word, and the sword burst into flames.

_Alright, that's impressive..._

So he pulled out Inferno, flicked the blade into place, and lit Inferno with a click. The humans nodded in approval while the dragons chuckled.

"Impressive, Chief. However, I am different from the other humans here. See, I have magic," Eragon calmly said.

As he said this, Eragon reached out toward the fire and... pulled flames to his outstretched hand. The flickering tongues of flame danced between his fingers without even burning him and then flew back into the fire.

Now this was the type of crazy and impossible that did not happen every day.

Toothless shook his head and warbled in amazement while staring at the fire.

"Okay, that just happened..." Hiccup whispered in awe and slight fear.

Eragon solemnly nodded.

"You may hear more of my story soon, but for now know this: I and Saphira are bonded in a very special way. I can hear her thoughts, and she can hear mine. We share part of our souls. We could do something like that to you and Toothless."

He gasped in shock and wonder as Eragon continued.

"Let me be clear, you would not gain any magic. All that it would do is allow you and him to speak as we can. She is asking him the same question right now, and we will only do this for you if you both want it. Do you want that?"

Draco grumbled and snorted fire at the sky.

"And if he can be trusted with such a bond. I have experience with giving bonds to humans who prove to be false."

Bowen stood and spun on Draco.

"Not everyone is like Einon. He turned on the Old Code, and we will do justice upon him. Chief Salmon is nothing like that tyrant."

That seemed to satisfy Draco because he stilled and lay his spiked head on his forearms.

Meanwhile, Hiccup stared in awe and fear at Toothless.

It was so sudden and so much to think about. Being able to magically hear Toothless would be... amazing, terrifying, wonderful, life-changing, and would confirm so many suspicions he had for years.

Toothless behaved with so much care, intention, planning, and cleverness that there was more in his actions than just a clever beast or loyal pet. Doing this would also mean that he would have to speak with Toothless about the past, about shooting him down and trying to kill him, and... other things that happened between them, not the least of which was Toothless being used to kill his father.

This would mean truly accepting that Toothless, and almost certainly the other dragons on Berk, were people the same as humans. Maybe a little rougher around the edges and a bit wilder, but people nonetheless. These other dragons present were beyond any doubt people.

His own life had been changed already by this craziness, so what was another change? Why was he the only one present who couldn't already truly talk with his dragon, or similarly, why was Toothless the only present dragon who couldn't talk with his human? It seemed strange. But he and Toothless already understood so much of how the other thought that it was like they could hear each other anyway already.

"I do," he whispered.

Eragon smiled, got to his feet, and stepped over to him while Saphira bent down toward Toothless.

"Good. He also does."

Eragon held out his palm, the one with the something something mark, and rested it on his forehead while Saphira nudged Toothless's muzzle. Eragon whispered some words, stepped back from him, and returned to resting at Saphira's chest. Nothing seemed to have happened.

"Done. It will take time before it works for you both, but it will happen," Eragon said.

Toothless curled his tail around him. He glanced up at Toothless's deep green and very wide eyes, now certain that there was someone behind them. That someone was already so dear to him, but it seemed he would be much better known in the future. Hopefully.

_Don't cry... don't cry... still have to figure out what's going on here._

"Thanks, Eragon, Saphira," he whispered.

_'You need not thank us, young one. That you and your bond could not speak as we can was wrong and not what should be. We only righted a wrong in the world. As we have done much of throughout our lives...'_ Saphira sighed.

"Saphira will speak to Toothless for us throughout. While you were resting, Chief Haddock, the rest of us were speaking and trying to figure out what has happened to us," Eragon explained.

Ruth hummed, his eyes whirling and changing color.

_'This is a very different 'when' from the 'when' Jaxom and I are from. All feels like we are 'outside' of 'when' entirely right now.'_

Everyone except for Eragon and Saphira looked confused. Even Jaxom shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes.

"What did you realize?" Hiccup asked, already completely confused.

Ruth answered.

_'Our times are limited in this 'not-when' until the sunfall. Then we will all be back in our correct 'whens'.'_

"And our 'wheres'," Jaxon laughed, for some odd reason.

Hiccup shrugged.

_I'm not sure how he can know that, but I'll go with it..._

Eragon then gestured at Temeraire and Laurence, apparently resuming some foregone conversation.

"So you were both helping to fight against an evil emperor also?"

Temeraire and Laurence hesitated before answering.

"Well, he was the initial aggressor, yes, but we found that even our own country's leadership was capable of... unspeakable crimes," Laurence sighed.

"What did they do?" Bowen asked.

Temeraire snarled so deeply that the ground shook.

"They set loose on enemy soil a dragon that had a rare disease that would have spread and killed... almost all dragons on the continent. As if the goal of winning the war justifies the means and the... collateral damage..." Temeraire growled.

Hiccup gasped in shock and horror at how terrible that sounded.

"What is that world you both live in? Are dragons used as... weapons?"

Laurence nodded.

"Sadly, they have been for millennia, ever since they were first trained in Ancient Rome."

"Rome! I didn't know they had dragons once!" Hiccup exclaimed in surprise, barely remembering something about stories of such a place.

Ruth hummed and got his attention. It was amazing how the white dragon's eyes changed color.

_'I believe that their Ancient Rome is a different one from that you know of.'_

Temeraire let out a heavy breath that disturbed the fire.

"Yes, dragons have always been used for heavy labor and combat. However, Laurence and I have been working to change that. We have gotten through the Parliament a bill that grants dragons full rights and protections under the Law."

Laurence chuckled.

"We might have needed to use some... creative political strategies to do so, but it happened! Dragons can now be employed, own property and land, and cannot be legally forced into breeding camps or concentration camps."

All dragons present, even Toothless, snarled and clawed at the dirt.

Temeraire then hummed and fondly nuzzled Laurence's head.

"And you had no small part to play in that, my captain..."

"Captain, bah!" Laurence chuckled.

Hiccup eagerly raised a hand. He understood very little of what this Laurence had said, but he did have one question on his mind.

"Excuse me, Temeraire, I have never seen a dragon like you before. What are you?"

"I am a Chinese Celestial," Temerarie answered while preening.

"Chinese? I've never heard of it, but I don't get out to see much of the world beyond the Archipelago anyway."

"You are not missing much. The rest of the world can be rather barbaric," Laurence fumed.

Draco rumbled with a mix of amusement and sadness.

"Even so, your future is much better than the one that I see for us dragons," Draco said.

"Why is that?" Laurence whispered.

"Because I and my unhatched son are the last ones."

Bowen hung his head for some reason.

"Bowen, you did not know better, and our time was ending anyway," Draco then kindly said.

"Draco, I must have killed your mate. How can you forgive that?" Bowen whispered.

"It is not easy. Sometimes I still want chew you, even if I never swallowed, but that didn't work well last time I tried," Draco huffed.

The other dragons gasped in shock while holding their humans closer. Bowen noticed that and laughed.

"It's fine! We had a good laugh! I was trying to kill him at the same time, but then we spared each other. Well, it was more he spared me at first..."

"Yes," Draco huffed, "while your actions were misguided, you believed that I had corrupted someone you cared for. And I will see my lost mate again. All you need to do is have a son or daughter and introduce them to my son once he hatches so they can be friends as we are. Maybe even true Dragonhearts."

Bowen shrugged.

"After we kill Einon. Then I'll think about family and about hanging up the saddle."

"You do that, Bowen. I will look to the stars. You know that I forgive you. What is your Code?" Draco hummed.

"A knight is sworn to valour. His heart knows only virtue. His blade defends the helpless. His might upholds the weak. His word speaks only truth. His wrath undoes the wicked," Bowen answered with a hand on his blade.

All the dragons roared with approval.

Eragon nodded.

"We know that life. Saphira and I led a war against an evil emperor sorcerer, Galbatorix. It's strange or ironic that it wasn't even magical power or strength that ended him."

"What did?" Bowen eagerly asked.

"Knowledge. Even though he ended himself, he basically wiped out dragons from the world we came from, though... hope remains. Even if Saphira is the last adult female..." Eragon chuckled.

She indignantly glared and wrinkled her nose at him.

_'Little one! Must I tease you about your exploits or the lack thereof?'_

Almost everyone snorted or chuckled while Eragon just rolled his eyes, though he looked very solemn about something.

Draco then laughed and turned to Saphira.

"Saphira is the last female of her kind, is she? Hello, beautiful, my name is..."

She impressively growled and bared her teeth.

_'You lose whatever touches me!'_

Everyone laughed at Draco's expense, though he didn't seem too frustrated by the quick rejection.

Completely at ease with everyone around him, Hiccup then eagerly turned to the last pair whom he didn't know much about.

"Jaxom, Ruth, what about you two? What is your world like?"

"It is much better now that the threat of Thread is no more," Jaxom answered.

_'Thread was an organism that fell from the skies above Pern, our home planet. The Thread would eat everything living that it touched. That is why the humans made us dragons be on Pern. We could flame the Thread and kill it far more efficiently than any technological means the humans had available to them,'_ Ruth added

Hiccup understood very little of that also, especially the part about humans making dragons exist. That was just Loki-speak for sure, or maybe it was just too complex to understand.

Jaxom then nodded toward Eragon and Saphira.

"While we have no magic as these two do, we riders and our dragons have mental bonds also from the first moment we Impress after the dragons hatch. Pern has changed much since Thread was made no longer a threat. The very reason why dragons were created was not an issue anymore, and that made tensions between Holds and peoples of Pern far worse."

Eragon shook his head, as if he was amazed by something.

"You say that you have no magic, but I still do not understand how you and Ruth can fly Between times and spaces themselves. The Elves assured me that such bending of time, even just seeing through time, was impossible," he muttered.

_'How I do it I cannot explain in words. I can go Between time and space because I must, and that is enough for our needs,' _Ruth answered.

Jaxom fondly scratched Ruth's neck.

"Jaxom, you mentioned something I don't understand: Impressing. What is that?" Hiccup asked.

"When a dragon is about to hatch from its egg, we have candidates around to bond with the hatchling after its hatching. It is always the hatchling's choice who it wants to bond with, and no one knows how they choose as they do."

Saphira nuzzled Eragon for some reason.

"But," Jaxom continued, "it was a little different for me and Ruth. See, he's much smaller than most dragons like him. A normal adult would be... as big as you Saphira. But he was so small and weak that he couldn't even break his own egg. I... helped him hatch."

Ruth nuzzled Jaxom's hair.

_'And I am very glad you did. One act of mercy... changed our world forever...'_

Jaxom huffed and tickled Ruth's chin.

"If only you would go make some hatchlings. After everything you've done for Pern, I'm sure there's a Green out there who would want to be with you even without a chase. We could use more dragons with your brains and... special skills."

Ruth snorted.

_'You know I do not care for that or need that.'_

"Ruth, I'm just saying..."

Bowen laughed and raised his voice.

"How is the women situation with everyone else? We seem to be all men here."

Saphira growled and flamed at him, though Draco blocked the fire with a wing.

"Not counting Saphira!" Bowen clarified.

Saphira growled while Eragon heavily sighed.

"I am far from the one I would be with, and Saphira is too. But we have each other in our hearts always. That's all we need," Eragon whispered while laying a hand on Saphira's head after she settled down.

"Happily married with two children," Jaxom proudly answered.

"It's complicated," Laurence frowned.

Temeraire similarly grumbled.

"Families are different for dragons where we are from. Maybe those customs will change with time," Temeraire shrugged.

Everyone then looked to Hiccup and Toothless.

"Well, I'm engaged... technically... to Astrid," he sighed, "and have been for... five years now ever since she kissed me the first time in public."

"Five years!" everyone, dragon and human, exclaimed in their various ways.

Bowen flew to his feet and strode over to him.

"Chief Fishman, you don't have a... problem... do you?"

"Problem?"

"Down there..."

"No!" he indignantly exclaimed.

"Then what are you waiting for? Five years? If you don't know her well enough by now to know for sure... you will never know!" Bowen said.

"I... it's my business, thank you very much."

"Ah, but it's also the tribe's business and this... Astrid's business. Have you asked her to marry you?"

"No."

"Why not? I saw the look in your eyes when you said her name."

Why hadn't he asked her already? He was sure that she was the one, so what was he waiting for? It was just a change in his life, a big change, sure.

Maybe it was that marrying her and... having a family meant that he couldn't live the life that he had been living before.

Maybe he just liked being able to fly to the horizon with Toothless whenever he wanted, though being Chief was an obstacle to doing that anyway.

Maybe he liked being able to leave the problems of the village behind him for a while.

Maybe he was just afraid that she wouldn't accept him as he was.

Maybe he didn't want to grow up and be a real man.

Maybe he didn't trust himself enough.

Maybe he didn't want responsibility.

"I... just haven't gotten around to it, but... I do want her, and I know what to do."

Apparently satisfied, Bowen went back to Draco's side.

Hiccup then gently scratched Toothless's neck while the Fury rested his head on his chin.

"As for Toothless, we've never found another dragon like him, another Night Fury. He might be the last of his kind."

Toothless sadly hummed.

Saphira hung her head while Draco nodded.

_'Dark one, I understand that being alone. But fear not, I learned that I was not as alone as I thought I was. When you do find a good female, you will help her to trust your human if she does not want to at first.'_

Toothless growled in clear agreement and nuzzled his head again.

Laurence raised a hand.

"Please pardon my interruption, but I was curious how we all met. We know how Jaxom and Ruth met when Ruth was in his egg. It was similar with me and Temeraire."

"Yes," Temeraire purred, which was very impressive for a dragon of his size, "my Laurence was captain of a British vessel. He captured a French vessel and fairly took my egg as a prize! Then I hatched and knew that I wanted him as my captain and friend."

Draco shoved Bowen in the back.

"Ours was... well, we were trying to kill each other at first. Then I took Bowen on what was for me a very amusing ride," Draco proudly said.

"Less amusing for me," Bowen grumbled.

Draco snorted flame and continued speaking.

"After we made our peace with each other, we went into business together. I would attack villages without killing anyone, and he would valiantly ride to the rescue and shoot me down every time! Made him very good coin and I got a meal from the sheep and pigs..."

Eragon rolled his eyes.

"I just found her egg by magical chance. I know that sounds stupid, but it's what happened. She was... sent to me by... fate, I guess," he whispered.

Everyone then looked to Hiccup and Toothless.

"Berk was at war with dragons for... generations. They were being controlled by one big dragon that had... magical power or something, over them. I shot down Toothless in one of the attacks, and when he fell... he..."

He fell silent, unable to continue until Toothless purred and gently nudged his head.

"When he fell he lost a tailfin. That means he cannot fly on his own anymore, and I have to help him. But before all that, I went into the woods to find him because I... wanted to kill him. Kill the mysterious, deadly dragon and I'd be a hero to the tribe. But I... couldn't do it. I wouldn't do it. I showed him... mercy..."

He hid his eyes, though he failed to restrain the tears.

_'Young one,"_ Saphira's gentle voice soothed his thoughts.

"One of the greatest and bravest acts possible is in being able to show mercy and forgive," Eragon whispered.

"If only that could... fix what was broken..." Hiccup whispered.

A long silence, save for only the purring and hums of the dragons, followed.

"Well," Draco started, "all this serious talking has left me hungry. What is the food like where you are all from?"

Hiccup leaned back against Toothless's chest as the conversation continued to the various types of cattle the dragons enjoyed in their homelands. He knew that he had very little he could add to the talk about food and cultures; Berk rather lacked anything of note in those categories. He occasionally replied when someone asked him a direct question. Just being in the presence of these good people who were friends was very encouraging.

Then, at some random time and without any warning, Ruth flew to his paws while the encircling smoke started drifting nearer. The sun had fallen low on the horizon.

_'It is time to return to our 'whens' and 'wheres''._

"And our Weyrs," Jaxom added.

"How does this happen? How do we go... home?" Bowen asked.

"Probably with wings. Not on you though," Draco answered.

The humans took that suggestion as their cue to get on their respective dragons. Draco turned to Saphira and held a paw to his chest.

"Brightscales, beautiful as the sky, shall I..."

_'Leave, yes, you shall!'_ she snorted.

Draco sighed, spun around, and bounded into the smoke.

"Warm flights to you all! I have a pavilion to return to!" Temeraire spun around and vanished into the closing smoke.

Ruth trotted over to Hiccup and Toothless, and he bent his head, his eyes whirling and changing color.

_'Use the gift well, both of you. Magic and powers, you do not have. You do not need them.'_

Before their eyes and without even moving, Ruth and Jaxom vanished from sight with a loud crash like thunder.

_What the... by the gods..._

Eragon and Saphira then strolled up to them without any delay.

_'Farewell, young ones. May your hunts always go well and your prey never escape your claws, teeth, and fire. Just as I and Eragon have changed our world, so will you change yours.'_

Hiccup bowed to her.

"And," Eragon solemnly grinned, "we have one more surprise for you both."

"What is it?"

Eragon looked like he wanted to answer but only barely restrained himself.

"No, you will both see..."

With that, Saphira spun around, jumped, and glided into the encircling cloud of smoke or mist. He and Toothless were entirely alone now. The mist spun closer around him and Toothless until the sky itself was smothered and going dark and darker and darker still until...

* * *

…Hiccup woke up on his side and with a very bad headache. He raised a hand to his forehead, not that doing so helped much with his headache.

_Ugh, how much did I drink? Is this a two ice blocks day already?_

He opened his eyes and realized that it was very dark out, probably not even midnight. He got to his feet and saw that he was in the woods near the ruins. There was no reason at all why he should be out here at night. At least it was still warm since he had his fur cape.

_Why in the world am I at the ruins? Gods, that must have been a party. Not sure I want to know what happened to get me out here._

Then a mass of darkness rose from his side as Toothless woke up also, got to his paws with a heavy groan, and rubbed his forehead with a paw.

_Why are you out here also?_

"Hey there, bud. Gods, this is a bad headache..."

_'Same here. I feel like I flew into a tree...'_

"Yeah, that would do... it..."

Toothless's eyes, shining in the moonlight, went very, very wide as Hiccup gasped in realization.

All the memories fell into place. The very strange dragons and their human friends whom he had met in this clearing were gone, but he remembered everything.

Jaxom and Ruth being different from everyone else, being there for each other in times of need, and apparently finding special strength in what was so abnormal about the small, white dragon.

Bowen and Draco forgiving old offenses, holding to ancient codes of conduct and honor, defending the weak and defenseless, and fighting against a cruel ruler.

Laurence and Temeraire stubbornly working to change their world and successfully making dragons more accepted among humans who would otherwise try to use the dragons as tools and weapons.

Eragon and Saphira having endured long wars, wielded magical powers for good, and given him and Toothless an amazing gift... or was it supposed to be two gifts?

"Toothless? I can... hear you..."

_'Hiccup! My friend!'_

Toothless bounded to him and swiftly grabbed him in a purring hug which he gladly and tearfully returned. The Fury had picked up so many human gestures or behaviors that other dragons just didn't do, such as better drawing in the sand and hugs.

He had no idea if this type of communication only worked one way, so he decided to test it by thinking very intensely.

_'Toothless, can you hear me?'_

Toothless let go of him and stepped back in open surprise and with a wildly swaying tail.

_'Yes! You can thinking-speak also!'_

"Oh gods, this is amazing!"

_'I did not hear it all, but I did hear you!'_

It made sense that he needed to practice this entirely new way of communicating. Was it only intentional thoughts that carried, or was it more than just those thoughts? Would sensations themselves convey?

He realized that having this direct communication could be a problem if he didn't learn how to control it. Some parts of life were not meant to be shared, but that was only a minor inconvenience when weighed against how good this was. He still didn't know if this thought-speaking on his end only worked if he could see Toothless or if it could work even without. If their speaking was anything like Eragon and Saphira, it probably would work across distances without even needing to see each other.

Just as Eragon had assured him, he felt no magic at all. Nothing was different except that he could hear a voice that was definitely not himself in his own head. And he was very sure that he was not going crazier.

_'I have wanted to talk to you so much... but you never heard me...'_ Toothless whispered.

"Not a problem anymore! Oh, Toothless, there's so much to talk about."

He yawned widely and covered his yawn.

"You remember everything that just happened, right?"

Toothless nodded.

_'I do. All those other dragon-human friends. Their lives and stories.'_

"Same here. That was so amazing. How about we head back home and... talk on the way? Oh, it's probably a good idea to keep this, our being able to talk, a secret for now."

Toothless rolled his eyes.

_'What? A Viking Chief saying that he can hear voices would be a bad thing?'_

"Trust me on this. I don't want to be known as the next deranged Chief. Humans have... issues..."

_'I know. You are a human.'_

"Thank you for saying that..."

Toothless snorted and started walking with him as they turned for home. However, Toothless almost immediately paused and shook his tail in annoyance.

_'There is a problem with the tailfin.'_

"Great. Just what we needed. Let's see it."

Toothless curled his tail around, and they saw in the night's faint light that the artificial tailfin was dangling off the end of his tail. The straps were broken or had fallen off because...

Speechless and in disbelief, they stared at the two whole tailfins on the end of Toothless's tail. Both tailfins flicked, curled, and rolled as Toothless flexed them, confirming that they were real. The lost one had somehow been restored.

Toothless was no longer grounded.

"_...we have one more surprise for you both..."_

"Toothless, they... they healed you..."

_'Yes, they did,' _Toothless barely whispered.

Hiccup didn't need to check to know that he still had his prosthetic. Part of a leg being lost was nothing compared to being grounded.

Toothless stepped up to him, rested a paw on his shoulder, and hummed while gazing at him.

_'We should walk home.'_

"You sure you don't want to... fly now?"

Toothless nodded ahead into the forest.

_'There is time for that later.'_

Hiccup nodded, took a deep breath, and followed Toothless on foot toward home. So much was different now, and he had no idea how this amazing meeting might have changed his life forever. He had more clarity about Astrid and knew that he had been delaying on that out of simple fear. He also understood better that, while power definitely came from confidence, it also came from those who were there with him to help him and aid him in making decisions and acting. Trying to be like his father by answering every single call of the tribe or by making decisions entirely on his own was not who he was meant to be. He was his own person and would leave his own, different, mark as a leader on Berk.

Valka was surely going to be wondering where he had been, but he could make up some excuse. Even the restored tailfin could be explained as having grown back over a long time and just been kept a secret until now. He doubted that most people in the tribe were observant enough to notice.

_I wonder if Gothi is going to ask or had any idea this would happen. Note to self, never get on her bad side._

He rested a hand on Toothless's neck as they resumed talking. All those other problems and changing the world forever could wait for later. All he cared about right now was walking in apparent silence with his best friend, learning how to talk without spoken voice so that no one would think he was going crazier, and getting a night of sleep.


End file.
